Brain Mush
by Brigid the Fae
Summary: Some writers call it a sampling. I call it what it is, brain mush. For the Writer's Month tumblr prompt list 2019. Each chapter is labeled by the prompt, the fandom, and the characters and/or pairing. Notes will be provided where needed.
1. Road Trip - Lord of the Rings

**A/N: This is a random idea that popped up that could take place in Call Me Again sometime after Ithilwen meets up with Celebrian. Sometime after chapter 28, if you want to be specific. I purposely didn't specify where in the road trip they were, but it's early on, somewhere between Texas and Louisiana.  
**

**Fandom: Lord of the Rings**

**Prompt: Road Trip**

* * *

"What kind of merchant stall is this?" Celebrian stepped out of the horseless-drawn cart, gathering her dress in one hand before shutting the door. Like everything she had encountered in this world since she arrived, this was a strange sight to behold. The small building's sign glowed bright against the night sky. The area also had a peculiar smell.

"This is a gas station and convenience store," Ithilwen shut her door, walking around the front of the car to join her aunt. "Those pumps over there put liquid into the car to make it move. It's called gasoline, and that's what you're smelling. This," she waved a hand towards the little building, "is where you can pay for the gas and buy things at a high-than-normal price because it's…well…convenient. They don't carry everything, but they sell a lot of commonly-used items."

Celebrian looked from the car to the pumps. "We do not need this gas-oh-leen?"

"Nah. I filled the tank up the other day. We might need to get some when we cross the state line. I'll show you how it works when we do."

The ellith crossed the parking lot and entered the convenience store. Save for a bored teenager at the counter reading on his phone, they were the only people present. Celebrian looked around, trying to take it all in. There were short shelves that created rows across the middle of the store, covered with pegs that colorful parcels hung from. Along the back were what looked like clear cabinets filled with an assortment of bottles. Just about every space was filled with a display of some kind, be it a parchment-like depiction of people with an item, or parcels of the item itself arranged in a meaningful way. All in all, for such a small building, it was a lot of stuff.

"Where do we start?" She asked her niece.

Twenty minutes later, the older elleth learned the meaning of "road trip snack food". In four plastic bags, Ithilwen had selected an assortment of chips, cookies, pastry derivatives, and candy. The teenager at the counter looked shocked – and slightly horrified – at the haul she collected and sat on the counter. Celebrian didn't understand at the time, but apparently normal people didn't spend what could have amounted to a weekly grocery bill on snack foods from a convenience store.

Of course, Ithilwen could have just as easily went to a grocery store. From the hotel they were staying at, there was one that was about a 5-10 minute driving distance with traffic. But the gas station was literally across the road, and it was getting late. She hadn't been sure how long the grocery stores in the area would stay open, and she really wanted to introduce her aunt to the wonders of Hostess cakes.

Now if only she could find a way to explain the difference between a Ding Dong and a Ho Ho without her aunt thinking she had gone round the bend.


	2. Summer - Inuyasha

**A/N: Something silly I thought of weeks ago when it was too hot to live. If you squint from Inuyasha's perspective, it could be seen as InuKag.**

**Fandom: Inuyasha**

**Prompt: Summer**

* * *

It was unreasonably hot this summer, Kagome decided.

The air was thick with moisture, which seemed impossible with the way the sun was beating down on Tokyo. Oh, there were clouds, just not blocking the ball of hell in the sky. And the kicker was that she came back from the feudal era, where there was no air conditioning, to her house – where there was no air conditioning. It had broken down the morning she came back but learned that the repairman wouldn't be able to come out for three days at the earliest.

Kagome pulled at her shirt as she climbed the stairs. By the time the equipment was fixed, she'd be gone again, searching for jewel shards and Naraku. Then again, that was her luck lately. Any leads on Naraku were scarce, and any youkai they crossed weren't worth the effort. When a surprise twist in the form of a visit from a certain ookami was added, frustrations had reached an all time high. Kagome had to get away for a bit, even just to restock on supplies.

Inuyasha had already been in an ill mood due to Koga's short presence, so Kagome had expected another fight to break out when they returned to the village. Thanks in part to the weather, it had been too hot to argue for even him. Maybe he had seen it in her face that even _she_ wasn't willing to humor the guy as he attempted to sweettalk her.

She tugged on the shirt again, pulling the material off her skin. Whatever the reason, she wasn't about to pass the opportunity up. As she entered her room, Kagome spotted her electric fan sitting on her desk. _'Mama must have found it,'_ she thought, closing and locking the door.

"Okay," she huffed, unbuttoning her shorts. "These have to go." The cutoffs were pushed down her hips, and she kicked them across the room for good measure, as if she thought they'd try to climb up her legs to resume their job.

Already she felt a little cooler.

Now clad in just her shirt and underwear, Kagome walked to her desk and clicked on the fan. It gave a low whirl as the motor started, pushing cool air forward. It wasn't freon-cold like the air conditioner could provide, but it was better than nothing. A bead of sweat rolled down her back and Kagome almost whined at how unfair it was. She turned, hoping she could dry her shirt out. It was the coolest one she had available, and she couldn't walk around in her underwear all afternoon.

She tugged the shirt up in the back, and after a few minutes she could feel her skin become moderately dry thanks to the fan. Kagome started to lower the shirt once more, then thought about it, looking at the fan. _'Eh…what could it hurt? I locked the door, after all.'_

* * *

He wasn't going through the well to drag her back.

For once.

Inuyasha had remembered that there was a box in the living room of Kagome's house that created cold air. It was one of those things in her time that he knew wasn't natural, but it made things easier. Comfortable. And right now he wanted to be comfortable.

If he just happened to be near Kagome again it was a bonus. One that he'd never admit to.

The others weren't aware of the cold air box, and he surmised that Kagome never talked of it because they couldn't experience it. Just as well. Right now they assumed that he was going to goad the miko into returning before she was ready, and that was fine with him. They didn't need to know the truth, and he could always use the excuse of asking for a special flavor of ramen if Kagome questioned his appearance.

Inuyasha exited the well house and nearly gagged. He couldn't be certain, but it seemed hotter in the future. His kosode was already getting damp with sweat, and the fire rate covering certainly didn't help matters. It wouldn't be hard to coerce Kagome to come back with him if she was even half as uncomfortable as he was.

A quick dash across the yard and he was perched on the partial roof underneath Kagome's window, reaching up to slide it open. As routine, he hefted himself up into the window frame, taking in the familiar sweet scent of her room. His ears picked up on the sound of something foreign, and he turned to locate the culprit, intending to put an end to the sound. Instead, he froze.

"K-Kagome-!"

She turned at the sound of his voice, and Inuyasha was gifted with quite the image. Kagome stood before her desk, wearing nothing but a shirt and her modern underthings. A light blue matching set with little white pawprints, he noticed. Inuyasha swallowed, drinking in the image. Her arms were crossed above her chest, gripping the material of her shirt and exposing more of her body than should be allowed. Had she been changing clothes?

'_Fuck! She's going to kill me!'_ It wouldn't be a bad way to die, seeing her back arched like that, further emphasizing the swell of her breasts and the curve of her hips and butt. Even in the afterlife he was certain that image would never go away. She was either about to sit him straight to hell or he was going to die from the blood rushing between his face and his smaller brain at lightning speed.

"I – I can explain, K-Kagome-!"

The strange thing was, she didn't move to cover herself. She didn't scream or use the command. Kagome just stared at Inuyasha with a bored expression.

"Kagome?"

When she did speak, her voice sounded just as bored as she looked. "Will you get a grip? It's not like you haven't seen me naked."

Inuyasha's face matched his robes as he sputtered. Yeah, he had seen her naked. Multiple times. All accidental, of course. And every time he had gotten something thrown at him, like the earth. "What the hell, wench!" It hadn't been what he _meant _to say, but with all the blood in his body ricocheting between his face and groin, his mouth was running on autopilot. The kami apparently didn't think men – human or youkai – needed enough blood to use both their brain for logical though while being turned on.

"What's your problem, Inuyasha?"

Either his hakama were concealing his problem rather well or she was being considerate and not acknowledging it. "My – _My_ problem! _You're_ the one standing there half-naked! And what the hell is that thing?!"

Kagome followed his gesture to the desk. "It's my fan. The air conditioner is broken, it's hotter than hell, and this is all I have to cool off. What are you doing here?"

"I…" He couldn't fucking remember. The blood had been gone from his brain too long to recall anything before he climbed in the window.

"Well you're burning me up in those sleeves," she muttered, dropping her arms to shake the feeling back into them. "You might as well come in," she added, a little louder.

Inuyasha pushed through the window and stood there awkwardly. He glanced down at himself, praying that he couldn't see what he feared he would. Nothing, fortunately, but he was still uncomfortable. He still couldn't get past Kagome not sitting him into oblivion, or at the very least pushing him back out the window. At least the heat in his face had gone down, but she was right. It was hotter than hell in the room. Would she mind? He removed his suikan, folding it and setting it on the edge of the bed. His kosode was now stuck to his skin, and he grimaced as he peeled it off.

If he had expected Kagome to protest him undressing, he would've been disappointed. Instead, she took the kosode from him and draped it over the back of her chair to air out. When she moved back in front of the fan, she left him space to come join her.

Then minutes later, Kagome had set the fan up on the floor, and the pair had settled back against the side of her bed. She had offered Inuyasha a hair tie to pull his hair off his neck, something he hadn't considered before but was silently grateful.

Kagome crossed her legs at the ankle as she said, "I'm sorry the air conditioner is broken." She knew that was one of the things that he liked about her time.

Inuyasha shrugged, looking over at her. She hadn't done anything to cover herself since he came in her room, although now he kind of missed the display he had gotten at first. Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, and she would occasionally push her bangs off her forehead to wipe away the sweat. Even if the circumstances had been different, he was struck with the thought that this was not something he could have seen Kikyo doing. Kagome was so far opposite of Kikyo it was amazing that he hadn't seen it when he woke up that day on the tree.

She fascinated him with the level of trust she put in him. Maybe that was why he- no, he couldn't go down that rabbit hole. Not right now.

"Keh. I don't get hot like you humans."

That was a bold lie to make, and they both knew it. Inu youkai in particular were known to have a higher body temperature than humans. Kagome stifled her laughter, which was hard when she spotted his toothy smirk. The heat of the summer may have made her hanyou more irritable, but it hadn't taken away his sense of humor. She bumped his shoulder with hers, smiling. "It's okay. I won't tell a soul."


	3. Kids - Lord of the Rings

**A/N: Some introspective from Haldir concerning his expanded family. Part of the Call Me Again universe.**

**Fandom: Lord of the Rings**

**Prompt: Kids**

* * *

At the end of the day, they were still children in his eyes, despite being adults.

That's what he kept telling himself as he heard the shouts from the den. The lot of them were playing one of those video games again, he couldn't be sure which. Most of the games they collected had explosions of some kind in them.

Laughter followed, so at least someone was being entertained at someone else's plight.

Haldir almost didn't recognize the sound coming from his comrades. During the war, there was little to laugh about; even a smile was few and far between. His allies were so much younger than himself, and he'd forgotten this. Hearing them laugh – it was almost healing to the war-torn souls who hadn't expected to see the next day.

Then there were squeals, and he knew those didn't come from one of the warriors. Unless one of the twins were trying to give their adar silver hairs. He wouldn't put it past them, honestly.

That thought led him to think about his own family. When he had lost Morwen and Ithilwen, he thought he would never see them again. Then he had learned about their existence, safe and sound in another world entirely, and hope returned. Gaining an additional son and daughter had been a surprise. A son, an ellon of another state of being, and a daughter, whose true identity was a mystery to even his wife. Regardless, he knew he would come to care for them as he did his first child, and he had the day that he set eyes on them. Both had appeared unsure of acceptance, like they had expected him to cast them out because they were not blood kin. He wasn't sure what had prompted that reaction, and it made him wonder what this world's society had been like to children who were left without family. It was something he was determined to fix, because no child of his should ever feel like they were not wanted.

He did wish that he could have seen the three of them grow, however. He wished that he could have met Bernard and Fiona when Morwen did. To be there the day that she officially declared them her children. Once upon a time he might have wished that he could have saved his wife and child from the wayward spell, but he wouldn't have the family he does now. If he could have – if he had been there that day – he would have held onto them both, to be taken with them instead of spending years searching middle-earth for any sign. But then…things wouldn't be as they are now if he had. Perhaps it really was divine intervention that caused history to play out as it did.

There was more noise that snagged him from his thoughts, and curiosity got the better of the march warden. He left his seat and walked to the doorway of the den, looking in to see what chaos was unfolding. The screen that everyone was focused on was divided into four panels, each one showing something different.

On the floor sat Ithilwen, Legolas, Gimli, and Glorfindel, each holding a round white controller, turning it left and right. They were too absorbed in the game to pay much attention to the spectators sitting around them. That didn't mean they were quiet by any stretch of the imagination. Between the screams, laughter, and squealing, there was quite a bit of swearing.

Haldir looked closer at the screen. It was a race, and with a multitude of traps on a path that held no railings. He couldn't tell who was where, but it looked as if none of them could stay on the path. It was brightly colored, resembling a rainbow after a steady rain, and almost sparkled.

A groan of "Oh. My. God. Not. Again" came from Ithilwen. He looked down at her, expecting to see a scowl on her face from her tone. Instead, she was smiling. Laughing even. The dwarf on her right made a comment that made her snort, and it caused Legolas to swear under his breath. While this was happening, Glorfindel had taken advantage of the distraction and finished the race first.

He shook his head and turned away. There were too many things about this world that he would never understand. Haldir had worried on more than one occasion that he had missed out on his children growing, but they would always be children to him, no matter how old they were.


	4. Annoyance - Harry Potter, Marvel MCU

**A/N: Long, long ago when I thought that "Some Assembly Required" was going to be a full-tilt story, this was one of the scenes I had planned. It's not the full scene, merely from Severus' perspective, but one day I'd like to write the scene proper. Maybe when I'm not as disappointed in the MCU and Kevin Feige I'll get that inspiration.**

**Fandom: Harry Potter/Avengers MCU AU crossover**

**Prompt: Annoyance**

* * *

He had better things to do with his time. In half a second he could list off four things easy that would have been more productive than…this. Hell, he'd have sooner spent the evening watching Longbottom obliterate the classroom with a botched spell.

At least it would have been more interesting than staring at a children's game board. Correction – guiding a plastic disc across a children's game board.

A Ouija board. They were trying to connect to Asgard, and the best idea they had was a fucking Parker Brothers game.

Severus looked around the table. Celeste sat to his right. It had been her idea, and he wondered if it wasn't her old house habits coming out that had started this bizarre line of thinking. On her right was Loki, who in his opinion, should have been more help. He was still learning the reasons for S.H.I.E.L.D not trusting him, but she'd vouched for him. Given that he was supposed to be so adept at magic, he should have been capable of contributing more than sarcastic comments. On Severus' left sat the strangest man he'd ever met, if you could even classify the red-skinned automaton as a man. The stone embedded in his forehead was in a way his namesake, and it had been because of him that Severus had had to travel to Sokovia and cancel two days' worth of classes. This…Vision… was intelligent, even if he did study things like a small child that should've been common sense to an adult.

"I don't get it. We're at the top of the Astronomy Tower. We ought to be getting _some_ kind of signal!"

Severus schooled his features at the comment. Sitting between Vision and Loki was Darcy Lewis, a witch from stateside with a… very freeform perspective of the world. She pulled one hand away from the planchette to push up her glasses. Celeste had befriended her out of school, and while he didn't know her even half as long, he had seen that she had talent. But that was hidden each time she opened her mouth –

"Darcy, this isn't a Wi-Fi connection to the afterlife-"

"I thought we were trying to contact Asgard?"

"I swear to god, Darce-"

"Why swear when I am already here?"

"Not you, Loki-"

"From my understanding, it is unwise and a sin in many cultures to take the name of a god or goddess in vain-"

Severus pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. He heard Celeste groan and wondered how much longer they'd be doing this. As soon as dinner ended, they met at the tower. It was approaching midnight, and he was one of the unfortunate chaperones to Hogsmeade the next day. He wanted to get _some_ sleep before the nightmare.

He'd been seconds away from calling it a bust and suggesting another approach. Then he'd felt the plastic beneath his fingertips start to move.

Everyone fell silent, watching the planchette move around the board.

_H._

_E._

_L._

_L._

_O._


End file.
